Shillong: The Meghalaya election office has engaged runners for Thursday's bypoll in Ranikor Assembly seat for carrying messages to and from booths located in far-flung areas in view of bad roads and unreliable mobile networks, officials said on Wednesday.

Bypolls will be held in Ranikor in South West Khasi Hills district, close to the Indo-Bangladesh border, along with South Tura seat in West Garo Hills district where chief minister Conrad K. Sangma is in the fray.

Chief electoral officer F.R. Kharkongor said at least 10 runners from villages in the constituency, known for its long-distance runners including former marathon national champion Binning Lyngkhoi, have been engaged to carry messages to and from the district election office and far-flung polling stations.

The runners will first make four trips around 9am from remote polling stations to report to the election officer on start of polling and emergency situations, if any. In the second round, at 11am, the runners will report to the official concerned on polling trends and turnouts. The third trip will be at 1pm and the last at 4pm, Kharkongor said.

South West Khasi Hills deputy commissioner Isawanda Laloo, who is also the district election officer, said the deployment of runners was a contingency plan. She said roads to some of the polling stations had been washed off by heavy rain and mobile connectivity was equally bad. Some polling stations are located over 20km away from the district headquarters and it takes at least three hours to reach on foot.

Mawkyrwat and its adjoining areas are known for their talented runners. Some of the runners from these villages are registered with RUNmeghalaya, an organisation that promotes their talent.

Meghalaya officials said engagement of runners on official duties such as election duty will promote their cause.

Lyngkhoi, who hails from Mawkyrwat and now runs for the army, was happy that the government had given his young friends the opportunity to run.

"I am happy that runners from Mawkyrwat are getting this opportunity. I hope they get the attention of the authorities and someday do the nation proud," he said. PTI